Europe’s week-long cold snap kills almost 300

The Arctic cold snap that has hit Europe for over a week had claimed nearly 300 lives by yesterday, dumping snow as far south as Rome and even North Africa and bringing air travel chaos to London.

The death toll rose in Ukraine, Poland, Italy and France, where two homeless people found frozen to death were the latest victims, with authorities across the continent reporting at least 297 fatalities.

London’s Heathrow Airport cancelled a third of the day’s flights, while much of Britain was blanketed in snow, leaving many drivers stranded on motorways overnight.